If the federal government won't do it, the state of Pennsylvania will. For years, sandbars blocked the entrance of Presque Isle on Lake Erie. In fact, during the War of 1812 at the Battle of Lake Erie, Commodore Perry had to use sophisticated floating devices called "Camels" to get his ships over them. Still the federal government was dragged it's heals. That is until the state of Pennsylvania threatened to take action on their own. Beginning in 1823, the federal government began a project to remove the sandbars at Presque Isle. Over the next several years, the channel was dredged to a uniform depth of 16 feet with an entrance that was 350 wide between two parallel piers.
Lake Erie with over 10,000 square miles is ranked the 12th largest lake in the world. On a lake this size calm waters can turn treacherous in just minutes sending boaters scrambling for sheltered harbor. One such location was Presque Isle, whose sheltered harbor became a base for the shipping of salt. By 1800, prominent citizens of the area including Rufus Reed began to build up the businesses along waterfront of the town of Erie then known as Presque Isle including shipping and boat construction. By 1810, Presque Isle had 400 permanent residents and Rufus Reed opened the first hotel, calling it Presque Isle Hotel. Additional businesses and hotels quickly followed. Yet, despite this growth, records show that there were only 10 sailing vessels over 15 tons sailing on Lake Erie in 1810. For the most part, the lake was dominated by smaller vessels due to sandbars which at low water levels allowed for only six to eight feet of navigable waters through the channel. Storms and currents continually changed the depth and location of the channel in the harbor, forcing large ships to anchor outside the Presque Isle and offload their cargo on to smaller vessels.
During the War of 1812, the town was converted into an improvised shipyard when Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was sent to Presque Isle to lead a command of fleets to take control of Lake Erie. Perry and his men had constructed two 110-foot 500 ton brigs with twenty guns each. When the opportunity came for Perry to strike, he had to act quickly getting his ships into the open waters, but the sandbars stood in the way. So, using flotation devices called "Camels", Perry and his men spent several exhausting days to move their ships over the sandbars. After the War, Commodore Perry was asked about the removing the sandbars in Presque Isle Bay, and responded that they should be removed as soon as possible. Congress initially, authorized the board of engineers to to survey the effort of removing the sand bars, but nothing came of it. In fact, in a letter to the Speaker of the House Henry Clay, the Department of the Navy stated that "no immediate benefit would therefore result to the United States from a removal of the sand-bar at this time". The report stated that even if one could be cut at a considerable expense, it would be "shortly filled up again with sand" due to strong easterly winds. Then, in 1822 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania commissioned it's own survey of the channel, suggesting that if the federal government would not take action, the state would. For whatever reason, this gave Congress the encouragement it needed to once again commission the Board of Engineers to again survey the obstructions at Presque Isle. On March 23, 1823 Congress appropriated $150 to "enable the president of the United States to cause the entrance of the harbor of the port of Presque Isle, in Pennsylvania, to be examined and surveyed" and to "make a probable estimate of the expense of removing the obstructions".
Finally, in his State of the Union Address, on December 23, 1823 President presented the report from the Board of Engineers regarding the "harbor port of Presquille, in PA" to Congress. Over the next several years, the channel was dredged to a uniform depth of 16 feet with an entrance that was 350 wide between two parallel piers.
"The Board of Engineers were also directed to examine and survey the entrance of the harbor of the port of Presquille, in PA, in order to make an estimate of the expense of removing the obstructions to the entrance, with a plan of the best mode of effecting the same, under the appropriation for that purpose by act of Congress passed 3rd of March last. The report of the Board accompanies the papers from the War Department, and is submitted for the consideration of Congress."http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29465
Pennsylvania Lighthouses on Lake Erie by Eugene H. Ware, Arcadia Publishing (2016) pgs, 32-38
Commerce and Navigation 1789-1823 Volume 2, United States Congress, page 417
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Presque_Isle_Pennsylvania_aerial_view.jpg
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